Forced retirement transition : a narrative case study of an elite Australian Rules football player
- Demetriou, Andreas, Jago, Andrew, Gill, Peter, Mesagno, Christopher, Ali, Lutfiye
- Authors: Demetriou, Andreas , Jago, Andrew , Gill, Peter , Mesagno, Christopher , Ali, Lutfiye
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 18, no. 3 (2020), p. 321-335
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- Description: Retirement from elite sport is a complex and often-problematic process. The current study explores a negative case study of an athlete recently retired from a team sport (Australian Rules Football) in order to generate knowledge on how to improve the retirement process. Three semi-structured interviews were undertaken less than 5 years post retirement, and archival career records were gathered from online sources. Data were coded to construct a narrative account of the participant’s career and retirement. Narrative analysis also revealed that the retirement transition from elite sports for this athlete was problematic and caused considerable personal distress. We suggest that the means of improving retirement transition and reducing harm to players include fostering alternative life narratives and increasing self-complexity, utilising norm appropriate communication strategies, and recognising retirement as a potential grieving period for loss of community. © 2018, © 2018 International Society of Sport Psychology.
- Authors: Demetriou, Andreas , Jago, Andrew , Gill, Peter , Mesagno, Christopher , Ali, Lutfiye
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 18, no. 3 (2020), p. 321-335
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- Description: Retirement from elite sport is a complex and often-problematic process. The current study explores a negative case study of an athlete recently retired from a team sport (Australian Rules Football) in order to generate knowledge on how to improve the retirement process. Three semi-structured interviews were undertaken less than 5 years post retirement, and archival career records were gathered from online sources. Data were coded to construct a narrative account of the participant’s career and retirement. Narrative analysis also revealed that the retirement transition from elite sports for this athlete was problematic and caused considerable personal distress. We suggest that the means of improving retirement transition and reducing harm to players include fostering alternative life narratives and increasing self-complexity, utilising norm appropriate communication strategies, and recognising retirement as a potential grieving period for loss of community. © 2018, © 2018 International Society of Sport Psychology.
An investigation into handedness and choking under pressure in sport
- Mesagno, Christopher, Garvey, Jacob, Tibbert, Stephanie, Gröpel, Peter
- Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Garvey, Jacob , Tibbert, Stephanie , Gröpel, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Vol. 90, no. 2 (2019), p. 217-226
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- Description: When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced “choking“ (sudden decline in performance) under pressure.”. Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left- and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes’ handedness may be linked to choking susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Differences were indicated in performance between the left- and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.
- Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Garvey, Jacob , Tibbert, Stephanie , Gröpel, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Vol. 90, no. 2 (2019), p. 217-226
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- Description: When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced “choking“ (sudden decline in performance) under pressure.”. Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left- and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes’ handedness may be linked to choking susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Differences were indicated in performance between the left- and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.
Imagery training for reactive agility : performance improvements for decision time but not overall reactive agility
- McNeil, Dominic, Spittle, Michael, Mesagno, Christopher
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Spittle, Michael , Mesagno, Christopher
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. , no. (2019), p. 1-17
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- Description: This study investigated the effects of imagery training on reactive agility and whether reacting to unpredictable stimuli could be improved using imagery. Forty-seven female athletes (Mage = 21.51, SD = 2.32) were randomly assigned to either a three-week physical training, imagery training, or control condition. Physical training condition involved physically rehearsing the reactive agility task, whereas the imagery training condition involved imagining the presenting stimulus and performing the reactive agility task. The control condition did no reactive agility training. A 3 (training conditions) x 7 (reactive agility performance components) mixed-model MANOVA was conducted to examine changes in reactive agility performance from the training interventions. Physical training improved decision time components and overall reactive agility performance. Imagery training improved Stimulus-Decision Time and Stimulus-Foot performance, but not overall reactive agility performance. No performance improvements occurred for the control condition. Findings support imagery use for the decision time variables associated with lightstimulus reactive agility performance. The lack of overall reactive performance improvement may indicate that imagery training is not effective for all components of perceptual-motor performance. Performance change inconsistencies appear to indicate that participants may not have generated unpredictable stimuli during imagery. Future investigation as to whether imagery improvements translate to sport-specific reactive tasks is needed.
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Spittle, Michael , Mesagno, Christopher
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. , no. (2019), p. 1-17
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- Description: This study investigated the effects of imagery training on reactive agility and whether reacting to unpredictable stimuli could be improved using imagery. Forty-seven female athletes (Mage = 21.51, SD = 2.32) were randomly assigned to either a three-week physical training, imagery training, or control condition. Physical training condition involved physically rehearsing the reactive agility task, whereas the imagery training condition involved imagining the presenting stimulus and performing the reactive agility task. The control condition did no reactive agility training. A 3 (training conditions) x 7 (reactive agility performance components) mixed-model MANOVA was conducted to examine changes in reactive agility performance from the training interventions. Physical training improved decision time components and overall reactive agility performance. Imagery training improved Stimulus-Decision Time and Stimulus-Foot performance, but not overall reactive agility performance. No performance improvements occurred for the control condition. Findings support imagery use for the decision time variables associated with lightstimulus reactive agility performance. The lack of overall reactive performance improvement may indicate that imagery training is not effective for all components of perceptual-motor performance. Performance change inconsistencies appear to indicate that participants may not have generated unpredictable stimuli during imagery. Future investigation as to whether imagery improvements translate to sport-specific reactive tasks is needed.
Exploration of the perceptual-cognitive processes that contribute to in-game decision-making of Australian football umpires
- Larkin, Paul, Mesagno, Chrisopher, Berry, Jason, Spittle, Michael
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , Mesagno, Chrisopher , Berry, Jason , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 16, no. 2 (2018), p. 112-124
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- Description: Decision-making is fundamental to officiating in all sports. It is well established in contemporary research that decision-making skills underpin umpire expertise; however, there is little understanding of the cognitive processes that contribute to in-game decision-making. This research implemented an in-depth case study approach, using qualitative methods, to explore the in-game decision-making process of three Australian football umpires. Concurrent and retrospective verbalisation methods were used to obtain verbal reports of the cognitive processes associated with decision-making. Findings identified three salient themes related to both in-game decision-making processes (i.e. decision evaluation, player intention during game-play) and umpire performance (i.e. knowledge of game-play). These themes contributed to the development of decision-making heuristics for Australian football umpires. This study provides initial evidence of the factors that may contribute to and/or affect in-game decision-making processes; however, additional exploration is necessary to further inform training programmes aimed to develop domain-specific decision-making skills and subsequent in-game performance. © 2016 International Society of Sport Psychology.
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , Mesagno, Chrisopher , Berry, Jason , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 16, no. 2 (2018), p. 112-124
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- Description: Decision-making is fundamental to officiating in all sports. It is well established in contemporary research that decision-making skills underpin umpire expertise; however, there is little understanding of the cognitive processes that contribute to in-game decision-making. This research implemented an in-depth case study approach, using qualitative methods, to explore the in-game decision-making process of three Australian football umpires. Concurrent and retrospective verbalisation methods were used to obtain verbal reports of the cognitive processes associated with decision-making. Findings identified three salient themes related to both in-game decision-making processes (i.e. decision evaluation, player intention during game-play) and umpire performance (i.e. knowledge of game-play). These themes contributed to the development of decision-making heuristics for Australian football umpires. This study provides initial evidence of the factors that may contribute to and/or affect in-game decision-making processes; however, additional exploration is necessary to further inform training programmes aimed to develop domain-specific decision-making skills and subsequent in-game performance. © 2016 International Society of Sport Psychology.
Activation of self-focus and self-presentation traits under private, mixed, and public pressure
- Geukes, Katharina, Mesagno, Christopher, Hanrahan, Stephanie, Kellmann, Michael
- Authors: Geukes, Katharina , Mesagno, Christopher , Hanrahan, Stephanie , Kellmann, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 35, no. 1 (2013), p. 50-59
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- Description: Trait activation theorists suggest that situational demands activate traits in (pressure) situations. In a comparison of situational demands of private (monetary incentive, cover story), mixed (monetary incentive, small audience), and public (large audience, video taping) high-pressure situations, we hypothesized that situational demands of private and mixed high-pressure conditions would activate self-focus traits and those of a public high-pressure condition would activate self-presentation traits. Female handball players (N = 120) completed personality questionnaires and then performed a throwing task in a low-pressure condition and one of three high-pressure conditions (n = 40). Increased anxiety levels from low to high pressure indicated successful pressure manipulations. A self-focus trait negatively predicted performance in private and mixed high-pressure conditions, and self-presentation traits positively predicted performance in the public high-pressure condition. Thus, pressure situations differed in their trait-activating situational demands. Experimental research investigating the trait-performance relationship should therefore use simulations of real competitions over laboratory-based scenarios. © 2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.
- Description: 2003010828
Performing under pressure in private : Activation of self-focus traits
- Geukes, Katharina, Mesagno, Christopher, Hanrahan, Stephanie, Kellmann, Michael
- Authors: Geukes, Katharina , Mesagno, Christopher , Hanrahan, Stephanie , Kellmann, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 11, no. 1 (2013), p. 11-23
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- Description: Self-focus and self-presentation traits have been found to predict performance under pressure. The interactionist principle of trait activation indicates that situational demands encourage different traits to be relevant to performance in high-pressure situations. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship of self-focus and self-presentation traits with performance in a private high-pressure setting. Because the private high-pressure situation offered motivational incentives but only minimal self-presentation cues, only a self-focus trait (private self-consciousness), but not self-presentation traits (public self-consciousness and narcissism), was hypothesized to predict performance under pressure in a private setting. After completing personality questionnaires, future physical education university students (N = 59) with experience in sport competitions performed eight throws at a target in low-pressure and high-pressure conditions. The conditions were identical with the exception that the high-pressure condition involved a monetary incentive and a cover story. Participants' state anxiety increased from low to high pressure. Neither self-focus nor self-presentation traits predicted performance under low pressure. Only the self-focus trait, but not self-presentation traits, negatively contributed to the prediction of high-pressure performance. Hence, findings support the applicability of the trait activation principle and underline that the situational demands of private high-pressure situations activate self-focus personality traits. © 2013 Copyright International Society of Sport Psychology.
- Description: 2003010822
- Authors: Geukes, Katharina , Mesagno, Christopher , Hanrahan, Stephanie , Kellmann, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. 11, no. 1 (2013), p. 11-23
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Self-focus and self-presentation traits have been found to predict performance under pressure. The interactionist principle of trait activation indicates that situational demands encourage different traits to be relevant to performance in high-pressure situations. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship of self-focus and self-presentation traits with performance in a private high-pressure setting. Because the private high-pressure situation offered motivational incentives but only minimal self-presentation cues, only a self-focus trait (private self-consciousness), but not self-presentation traits (public self-consciousness and narcissism), was hypothesized to predict performance under pressure in a private setting. After completing personality questionnaires, future physical education university students (N = 59) with experience in sport competitions performed eight throws at a target in low-pressure and high-pressure conditions. The conditions were identical with the exception that the high-pressure condition involved a monetary incentive and a cover story. Participants' state anxiety increased from low to high pressure. Neither self-focus nor self-presentation traits predicted performance under low pressure. Only the self-focus trait, but not self-presentation traits, negatively contributed to the prediction of high-pressure performance. Hence, findings support the applicability of the trait activation principle and underline that the situational demands of private high-pressure situations activate self-focus personality traits. © 2013 Copyright International Society of Sport Psychology.
- Description: 2003010822
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